The invention relates to a device for actuating a load adjusting element of a fuel supply device for internal combustion engines. In such a device the position of the transmitter member is transmitted via a transmitter to the electrical control device which transforms this transmitter signal into an adjusting signal while taking into account other possible parameters to be accounted for and passes it on to an adjusting device, e.g. an electric motor. The output of the adjusting device is connected with an adjusting lever of a fuel injection pump via a rod linkage, which adjusting lever varies the fuel injection quantity or the power delivered by the internal combustion engine. This adjusting lever can also be designated as a load adjusting element, its position determining the quantity of fuel injected at the instantaneous speed of the internal combustion engine depending on the construction of the regulating device assigned to the fuel injection pump. A coupling is located inside the rod linkage and can interrupt the connection between the adjusting device and load adjusting element at a signal from the control device. The position of the output of the adjusting device is reported back to the control device and the load adjusting element is thus reset to the reference value predetermined by the control device in normal operation. If a permanent error signal occurs the device is in a defective operating situation. For such cases the known device has a mechanical coupling between the transmitter member and the load adjusting element in the form of a rod linkage and a lever which can be coupled with the load adjusting element via a spring with the intermediary of an idle path in the adjusting range of the rod linkage. In the event of an error in operation the transmitter member adjusts the load adjusting element via the mechanical coupling. In this first operating situation corresponding to a proper functioning, the idle path of the mechanical rod linkage allows the load adjusting element to be adjusted without being influenced by the latter.
However, this device has the disadvantage that a determined idle path must be predetermined, the adjusting effectiveness of the transmitter member being reduced by this idle path during emergency operation in which the connection between the adjusting device and load adjusting element is interrupted as was mentioned above. In this case, in a given position of the transmitter member, the position of the load adjusting element no longer corresponds to the position in the operating situation characterized by proper functioning. Further, a stirrup spring, which in turn works in opposition to another restoring spring, is used for the transmission so that there is no rigid coupling between the transmitter member and the load adjusting element and a deviation of the load adjusting element adjustment during emergency operation relative to normal operation accordingly also occurs in this instance and can also be varied depending on the adjusting resistance.